daybook for today, the day before Thanksgiving....

Outside my window... wet and grey, but no snow. Is it really November?

I am thinking... since I'm feeling pretty good right now I really should be up and busy, but here I sit and type.

I am thankful for... the usual list- my faith, my family, my health, my precious hubby who wakes me up in the morning by setting a steaming cup of coffee on my bedside table.

From the learning rooms... not much this week; we're taking our "Morning Sickness Break".

From the kitchen... breakfast was boiled eggs and hot cocoa; lunch will be boiled potatoes; dinner will be... something easy. I've got to start Thanksgiving dinner prep!

I am wearing... A hoodie over a t-shirt, but oh, the shame! I'm still in jammie pants!

I am creating... really, nothing. I need to get something going in that department.

I am going... to try making a cole slaw or similar salad for Thanksgiving dinner this year. Don't know why bother, all we really want is stuff that goes under gravy anyway.

I am reading... excerpts from Saintly Solutions; Advent ideas from A Year With God; and the mail.

I am hoping... nobody gets sick at least until after the first of the year. Is that too much to hope for?

I am hearing... Mary singing to herself while she stirs her cocoa with a spoon, Daniel whistling, Robert going outside with his bow and arrows; Joseph coming inside, also singing. Never noticed we have such a musical family!

Around the house... Oh, my what a wreck! Nothing else to say about that...

One of my favorite things... Popple- their music is just great!

A few plans for the rest of the week: I think this year instead of a too-huge dinner on Thanksgiving Day, I might try spacing out the celebration throughout the four-day weekend. I mean, why have four desserts on Thursday when we can have a pie on Thursday, a pie on Friday, a pie on Saturday, and cake on Sunday? Why should I make both a sweet potato casserole and a green bean casserole on the same day when one would be enough? I've been wanting to make a German Chocolate Cake for a while, so even though that's not usually on our traditional list of desserts, it will be this year. I never realized that there were only four pilgrim women and two teenagers to cook that first Thanksgiving meal for about 95 people. No wonder it took them three days to celebrate!

Here is picture for thought I am sharing...

Daybook template courtesy of The Simple Woman's Daybook

Long-Overdue Update

My goodness, how do I recap the last busy few months? I'll do my best!

My job at the grocery store is going very well. I don't mind the work, I like the people I work for, and the hours are working out so much better for all of us. Typically I work three days a week (sometimes two when it is my turn for a Sunday off), but many times I've been able to pick up extra shifts. There are three very important aspects of my job... making sure the till is as close to "right" as possible, counting the cigarettes, and stocking the beer cooler. Not necessarily in that order, especially now that we're into hunting season. ;-) Besides my job at the store, I've also been "hired" to play music at our parish for Mass. I've never played organ until two months ago; it is a whole different animal from piano! Some weeks it comes together quite well, other weeks I feel completely silly up there, masquerading as a musician. Chuck assures me that when everybody is singing loud enough, nobody can hear my mistakes.

The kids are all doing well. The first round of flu went through town, but nobody in our house has been sick. Thank God for that! Between chores, lessons, and their own interests they manage to keep busy most of the day. Mary Mae celebrated her second birthday nearly two months ago. She is so much fun! Sometimes when I look at the older kids it seems like they have grown overnight and I hardly recognize them. I love having little kids, because it is so much fun to watch them learn and develop and grow. I am realizing that the older kids are still changing just as much and almost as fast. Suddenly they seem like young men and women.

Or maybe I'm just feeling old. ;-)

We are expecting company any minute now, so I guess that's all the update you will get from me. I'm not going to close this post with hasty promises to blog and post lots of pictures from now on. I do promise, however, that all my family and loved ones are close to my heart always!

One final note... check out Chuck's blog for a very special announcement. :-)

Love you all, God bless!